’Tis the season to be jolly—right? Just because we sing it and say it doesn’t necessarily make it true. The joy of Christmas—something that comes so naturally when we are children—can feel increasingly unattainable as we grow older. As we face more hardships and go through darker trials, our joy can grow dull. What can we do to reclaim the joy of this season? I want to suggest to you that the greatest joy in Jesus—any time of the year, but especially at Christmas—is found in the church and the covenant community. Here are three reasons why.

1. The church provides no shortage of reasons for rejoicing, because every church member’s joy is shared with the whole body. “Rejoice with those who rejoice” (Rom. 12:15). If you are in short supply of joy this Christmas, join the church and find your joy in hers.

2. The church reorients us to what gives us true satisfaction and happiness in life. It is not the materialistic and consumeristic promise of “more” but the gospel promise of Christ. The church, as she abides in the Vine, finds life, joy, pleasures evermore in Jesus and nowhere else.

3. The joy of the season makes no sense apart from the church. Jesus came to earth for his church, and he is coming back to be wed to her permanently. The advent season, therefore, is a time for God’s people to long for and joyfully anticipate together that time when their bridegroom will bring them home to himself.  

—Jonathan Landry Cruse, author, Church Membership